People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced fresh optimism after their initial encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading Ending Clergy Abuse, commented that the Pope's decision to engage with them so early in his leadership sent a strong message about his commitment to addressing the issue.
Global Strict Policy Advocated
The organization is pushing for a worldwide strict approach that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has been implemented in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in some parts of the world" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"Everyone was practical when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The new Pope, who assumed the position in May, has inherited this persistent problem that has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.
Earlier attempts to resolve the situation included an unprecedented summit on paedophilia within the institution and changes to church laws to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Personal Link
For the representative, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for worldwide adoption of the measure is personal. The North American advocate shared they were victimized by a clergy member who was later moved between various churches.
"Hopefully this will set the tone for his leadership, because we want to collaborate with him," Hickey stated. "Both sides share the same goal, we seek to eliminate abuse by religious officials."
Significant Meeting
Multiple representatives of the coalition, which includes survivors and supporters from more than 30 countries, met with the Pontiff in his Vatican office.
The discussion, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was characterized as "very understanding" when listening to the story of a female survivor abused at a Catholic residential school for Indigenous children in North America.
They added the leader was "tender" about their own experience and appeared "modest, funny, and very down to earth."
"Survivors have long wanted a voice in discussions and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," they stated. "I felt like he was sincere, realistic, and very open and keen to work with us."
Church Regulations Reforms
The organization is advocating that changes to canon law will facilitate the implementation of the strict approach worldwide.
They have spoken with specialists and compiled documents that they plan to present to the pontiff.
"He seemed engaged in reviewing it," they remarked.
Accountability Highlighted
A recent church-ordered document highlighted the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of Church leaders or personnel in cases of misconduct or failure to act."
The report also pointed out that survivors consistently emphasized the "urgent need for bishops and major superiors to be held accountable for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
Hickey revealed they informed the Pope at the beginning of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, they expressed hope for future change.
"We understand it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, coming together and building a relationship and persisting to strengthen that relationship is a step in the right direction," Hickey stated.
They concluded that they told with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I believe like we can alter how the narrative concludes - he valued that."
